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 Conflict Summary

Civil war throughout the 1980s led to the disintegration of the Somali state, as well as to the repressive regime of Siad Barre being ousted in 1991 by the United Somali Congress (USC). A large-scale international intervention followed, which failed to avert impending famine and infighting. In the north of the country, the two provinces of Somaliland and Puntland declared independence, while in the south the USC fought various clan factions following the United Nations’ departure. A long-running attempt to re-establish state structures was revitalised in a 2000 agreement and the subsequent creation of a Transitional Federal Government (TFG). These efforts have been undermined by fighting amongst the rival clans that make up the TFG and the rise of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), an extremist Islamist militia. An Ethiopian intervention in support of the TFG in 2006 set back the UIC’s efforts, but rival clans and remnants of the UIC have increasingly been able to challenge the TFG.